Called usurpation when one colony "evicts" another. Very common in the states with Africanised bees which will take over hives.
Nice to see it does occur in the UK. Well documented and photographed Alfred. . It might be more common than we think....I have notes on a hive I was re queening this year and when I got a laying queen I found she was already marked....so where did she come from! Or am I getting more senior moments
Flow over in my part of the world for the moment. Bees are robbing and mobbing any open supers as I check through hives preparing more to take to the heather. Many don't make the cut as not strong enough, some are nearly there and have received donations of brood from other hives.
I try to work on 1 frame of stores, 1 frame of pollen and 9 frames of brood per hive for the heather. I drop all my doubles into single brood so usually have plenty of brood frames to share around.
Nice to see it does occur in the UK. Well documented and photographed Alfred. . It might be more common than we think....I have notes on a hive I was re queening this year and when I got a laying queen I found she was already marked....so where did she come from! Or am I getting more senior moments
Flow over in my part of the world for the moment. Bees are robbing and mobbing any open supers as I check through hives preparing more to take to the heather. Many don't make the cut as not strong enough, some are nearly there and have received donations of brood from other hives.
I try to work on 1 frame of stores, 1 frame of pollen and 9 frames of brood per hive for the heather. I drop all my doubles into single brood so usually have plenty of brood frames to share around.